ATIPPA

NDP Environment & Conservation critic George Murphy (St. John’s East) says the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing on public health and the environment (including water supplies) should be a strong focus of the panel reviewing the possibility of using the process for oil exploration, whenever it finally announces the dates for the public hearings it is supposed to hold.

NDP Leader Lorraine Michael (MHA, Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi) says that while she is delighted government has seen the errors of its Bill 29 ways, the caucus will be watching closely to ensure it keeps its new promises.

NDP Leader Lorraine Michael (MHA, Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi) used her portion of Question Period in the House of Assembly today to probe the provincial government’s appointment of a Muskrat Falls oversight committee.

“The government plans to appoint a committee of bureaucrats to oversee the Muskrat Falls project,” Michael said in the House of Assembly today.

NDP Leader Lorraine Michael (MHA, Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi) says the planned review of the province’s Access to Information and Privacy Protection Act must include the loophole that allows corporations from outside the province to block people from knowing how tax dollars are being spent.

One of the problems with applying ATIPP in a small municipal setting is the availability of trained staff and councils to safeguard the protection of privacy and ensure access to information when deemed necessary under the law.